SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Don O’Neill: Hiker who died on Mount Rainier did so loving life
Jun 16, 2015, 5:47 PM | Updated: Jun 17, 2015, 5:45 am
He may have died too young, but the hiker whose body is believed to have been recovered Saturday died making every minute count. (AP)
(AP)
He may have died too young, but the hiker whose body is believed to have been recovered Saturday died making every minute count.
It takes a real mountain climber to summit Mount Rainier’s Liberty Cap, KIRO Radio’s Don O’Neill said.
“He was a real mountain climber,” Don added. “He died with his boots on, loving life … Not on his couch.”
Searchers believe they recovered the body of 25-year-old Kyle Bufis. Bufis was in a group of three that reached the top of Rainier via an extremely dangerous route on June 11.
The area of Mount Rainier the three climbed is attempted by less than 2 percent of climbers. However, the route accounts for about 25 percent of all summit deaths.
The fact that the three were able to summit the Cap tells Don that they knew what they were doing — Don has climbed Rainier as well, but did not take that route. So when the climbers were forced into a crevasse for shelter after conditions deteriorated, it must have been a difficult situation.
“If you’re lowering yourself into a crevasse … it’s bad,” he reiterated. “You’re in very bad conditions.”
Bufis became separated when he volunteered to retrieve a cook stove the group left behind, his father told the Star Tribune. There’s a chance the group needed the stove to melt snow for water, Don said.
“They didn’t know how long they would be in there,” Don added.
